my wife and i took our grand daughters today 05/23...

my wife and i took our grand daughters today 05/23/19. the 2 girls had a great time and we enjoyed getting to spend the day with them and each other as we both work 50 to 60 hours weekly. from my own perspective as an adult i was quite disappointed. we spent 120 plus dollars for admission and for all day ride bands for the train ride and the slide and the merry go round. then when we get inside the prices for refreshments were outrageous. 3 dollars for a 20 ounce coke and 8 dollars for a icee flavored ice. they charged for the exhibiits feeding the animals and more to touch or ride the camels. needless to say you could easily spend 300 or more dollars at this zoo in a day. also the layout of the zoo was very confusing and even though the trails had signs and maps it was still very confusing. the buildings were out dated and the animals to me looked miserable. also we saw no lions, no tigers and just 1 little bear, oh my. alot of fish and alot of birds and a few monkeys. yes they have a few big elephants and giraffes but like i said you had to pay for any interaction with them. overall i would give the zoo a 2 star rating just because we made the best of it and had fun. fun is priceless. another thing to note is they are doing construction to the front entrance and have alot of the parking fenced off so parking was terrible too. we had to park in the north 40 and walk a mile back to the zoo. it was hot. they do have a slash pad for the kids up close to the high dollar snack food. i thought it sucked for the price. my girls loved it but to be alabama's best zoo i was very disappointed at the animal attractions and the cost of refreshments. don't see myself going back. maybe we will try a different zoo next year.